Banana Republics

8/13/2019 Banana Republics

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UNITED FRUIT CO.Presented By

Hayden SantimanoCLAS

Part I


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Genesis

Bananas unknown unt

il 1866

Captain Baker, Andrew Preston & Minor Keith form UFC on March

1899 UFC purchases Boston Fruit Company and associates & Keith's prop

Expanded cultivation by purchasing land


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THE BANANA SUPPORT INDUST

International Railways of Central America (IRCA)

Interdependency between both

Transcontinental railroads dream

United fruit company acquired favors like

Land grants &

Duty exemptions

The Railways


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Andrew Preston created United's Great White Fleet

1899 chartered four new ships (the Admiral Dewey, Admiral Schley, A

Sampson, and the Farragut)

1903 the S.S. Venus 1st

refrigerated ship 1904, United first to put commercial radio on shipboard

By 1933 had fleet of 95 refrigerated ships

1913, Tropical Radio Telegraph Company was incorporated as a subs

of United Fruit

The Waterways


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49

53

2787

94

C.A. & Caribbean EconomiesDependent on US Before WW II

Costa Rica

DominicanRepublic

Guatemala

Honduras

Panama

53

62

50

67

55

C.A. & Caribbean Boug

Before WW II

Very low level of diversification

By 1913, fifty per cent of Costa Rican exports were bananas and thirty-five per c

Guatemalan exports depended on eighty-four per cent on coffee and six per cen


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American Mare Nostrum, 1900-19

Early 20th century, the Central American and Caribbean countries un

American influence as the US paid countries foreign debt with Euro

powers

America has also used force to protect their interests

General Treaty of Peace and Amity - countries committed themselve

non-intervention in their neighbors affairs, and non-recognition of n

elected governments


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Honduras

2ndlargest banana exporter in Central America from 1900 until 1916 after that

General Terencio Sierrasdictatorship(1899-1903)

Manuel Bonilla(1903-1907)

General Miguel Dvila(1907-1911 nationalist)

Manuel Bonilla

General Tiburcio Caras(1932-1949) permitted reduced wages


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Honduras

Manuel Glvez (1949-)

created the countrys first income tax, health insurance, social security, and hour day

May 1954 workers on strike, because of its peaceful nature more support

Government declared itself neutral in this conflict

U.S. government saw this strike as steps towards a Communist insurrection

June 1954 agreement reached 21 % wage increase (from the original 71% dby the workers) and health care for the workers families


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Guatemala

General Manuel Estrada Cabrera(1898-1921)

1901 - Gave United Fruit transportation concession over the Puerto

(in the Atlantic Coast)and New Orleans 1904 - Granted the IRCA a 99-year concession over construction an

management from Guatemala City with Puerto Barrios


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Guatemala

General Jorge Ubico(1930-1944)

The Indians called his The Father

Ordered to work for local landowners at least 100 days a year

Legal for the landowners to murder stubborn or rebellious Indians (rracism)

Paranoid of Communist conspiracies

1930 UFC dropped the port project to not compete with IRCA but

keep land


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Guatemala

After 1944 military junta: - ended censorship, forbade presidential re

for more than two periods, classified racial discrimination as a crime,

established a 40-hour work week, forbade payment to the workers inchangeable for goods at the landowners store and legalized labor uni

Juan Jose Arvalo(1944-1949)


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Guatemala

Captain Jacobo Arbenz(1951-1954)

Established the first income tax in Guatemala & created government

Built roads, ports and hydroelectricity

1951 the IRCA Annual Report included a Labor Relations

In 1952 Land Reform passed

If the landowners had not cheated on their tax forms, they would ha

amounts they were demanding

Carlos Castillo Armas(1954-1957)


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UFCs DeclineHome Reasons

Banana consumption replacedby canned fruits

Anti-trust regulations by gettingrid of some of its lands

Moodys rating

State Reasons

First permanent expropriationsby Fidel Castro in 1959

Costa Rica passed a newlegislation that forcedsignificant increase in wages

External Reasons

In 1970 United Fruit mergedwith AMK Corporation

creating a new company:United Brands


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Conclusion

All dictators & UFCs relations started of with good intentions

Less democratic a government, the more inclined to accommodate it

interests of United States and the United Fruit Co.

Dictators helped United Fruits business, and United Fruit helped theremain in power


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Bibliography

Good dictator, bad dictator - Marcelo Bucheli University of Illinois a

Urbana

The case of United Fruit Company in Latin AmericaStacy May an

Plaza


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Thank You For Listening (or not)

Go Bananas!!!!!

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Banana Republics